Why There are Few Female Airline Pilots?

The aviation industry has a long and rich history. It has numerous breakthroughs and accomplishments, but why do we always associate these great things with men? In general, the roles of women in this field aren’t as recognized as they should be.

In this age, women are achieving great things. There are a lot of successful and acclaimed accountants, doctors, designers, etc. But when it comes to female pilots, there is very little that we hear about. We need to address this issue to further inspire females not just to become pilots, but to pursue whatever career that they wish to excel on.

Issues to overcome

Aviation is a highly male-dominant field. According to a 2006 study called Gender issues in aviation: pilot perceptions and employment relations, women are put off by the “masculine beliefs, values, and perceptions [that] appear to continue to dominate the industry.” The research also stated reports of assault, concupiscent dialogue, and sexism toward women.

Airlines around the world are addressing and providing solutions for such issues. For example, United Airlines spokesperson stated that the airline has no tolerance for such situations and would be very quick to inflict penalty or sanction to anyone who performs any type of harassment toward its crew, especially female pilots.

Destroying barriers

Due to the global shortage of active commercial pilots, airlines are striving to make the position a lot more appealing to both men and women. Qantas, for example, is aiming to ‘up the ante’ by hiring more female pilots into their company. Just recently, Air India has operated an all-female Kolkata-Dimapur-Kolkata sector to celebrate Women’s Day of 2018. All these progressive movements are done to expose women and young girls to realize that becoming a pilot is possible regardless of their gender. Hopefully, these efforts will bear fruits in the future where we can see more women taking to the skies.